


Distant Lands

by DoreyG



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Developing Friendships, Gen, Pre-Slash, Season/Series 01, Stealing, Trick or Treat: Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 16:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16201076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoreyG/pseuds/DoreyG
Summary: He stops midway through his sentence, as he finally actuallylooksat the tableau before him instead of pulling a Blake and just riding roughshod all over it. Vila had sprung up at his entrance, face flushed, and revealed on the bed by his sudden nervous movement are..."Haven't you ever heard ofknocking?" Vila hisses, giving him a glare that's trying so hard to be intimidating that it circles right back around to hilarious.





	Distant Lands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [still_lycoris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/still_lycoris/gifts).



"Vila," he snaps, not bothering to announce himself before he barges through the man's door and steps into the room, "Blake is complaining about the powers couplings again, and as much as I hate to admit it you have steadier hands than me. So if you wouldn't _mind_ -"

He stops midway through his sentence, as he finally actually _looks_ at the tableau before him instead of pulling a Blake and just riding roughshod all over it. Vila had sprung up at his entrance, face flushed, and revealed on the bed by his sudden nervous movement are...

"Haven't you ever heard of _knocking_?" Vila hisses, giving him a glare that's trying so hard to be intimidating that it circles right back around to hilarious.

"Are those the board games that we saw last week?" He asks with interest, ignoring Vila in favour of walking closer to the bed and examining the bounty laid out there, "the ones that are extremely rare, available only on that miserable planet Blake forced us to visit?"

"Aren't you listening to me? I said-" Vila starts, and then shrinks a little when he glances back at him. Like he's bracing for a punch, or worse, "they might be."

"There are at least thirty games here," he says, and deliberately runs his eyes over Vila's body. Notices with interest, how the man flushes bright red at the perusal, "how did you carry them all the way back to the ship? Without _any_ of us noticing?"

Vila opens his mouth, and then closes it against and grits his teeth. He looks rather like a prisoner about to be marched in front of a firing squad, which is both amusing and interesting at the same time, "I'm not saying anything."

"Vila," he says, allowing a touch of - _justified_ \- disgust to slip into his voice, "I'm not going to tell Blake."

Vila only stares at him for a long moment more, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Think for a moment, if you're at all capable of it," he continues firmly, taking a step forwards that has the somewhat flattering effect of making Vila take a sharp step back, "why _would_ I tell Blake, and risk losing the first proper source of entertainment that we've had in months? Some of us can doubtlessly survive on justice and suicidal plans alone, but the more intelligent among us require something a little more _interesting_."

Vila regards him for a long moment more, eyes still narrowed, and then slowly lifts his shoulders in a shrug, "it's a professional secret."

"Really," he says flatly, unimpressed.

"The kind of professional secret you can only learn by doing this kind of thing for a lifetime," Vila says surprisingly levelly, meeting his glare. A coward he may be, but he's starting to wonder how much of his wriggling is smoke and mirrors, "you sort of learn to fold things, after a while. To hide things that should have no business being hidden."

"Hm," he says, fascinated, and glances back at the bed again. If Vila can regularly pull a collection of loot as wide as this, he may well have to start rethinking a few things, "It's certainly impressive, I'll give you that."

"You actually mean it," Vila says, looking a touch surprised. The man studies him for a long few moments, a thoughtful frown on his face "...And you promise you won't tell Blake?"

"Do you require me to swear on my mother's life?" He asks crisply, and has to bite back a smirk as Vila only arches an eyebrow in reply, "yes, Vila, I promise not to tell Blake. And yes, Vila, I _am_ actually impressed."

"A lot of people would," Vila says tightly, and briefly bites his lip as if he's not quite sure whether to go on, "and a lot of people aren't impressed. It's one thing having a pathetic thief around, the kind who you can laugh at as they get drunk. It's another thing entirely to have somebody with actual _talent_ near you. Some people start to get itchy, start to think it'd be easier if there wasn't a thief around at all."

"I am hardly likely to shove you out of the nearest airlock, Vila," he says, heaving a deliberately weary sigh. It makes the man smile a little, at least, and a smiling person is far easier to persuade, "it would be most unwise. You can't form an alliance with somebody when they're floating in space, after all."

Vila stares at him for another moment, and then gives a low snort and bursts into a full smirk, "what did you have in mind?"


End file.
